Reeves to unlock £100bn spending on roads & energy to boost left-behind areas

30 May 2025, 10:21 | Updated: 30 May 2025, 12:44

By Natasha Clark

@NatashaC

Rachel Reeves is to unlock £100bn of spending on roads and energy to boost left-behind areas.

The Chancellor's expected to tear up Treasury rules at the upcoming spending review in a bid to unlock more cash for the Midlands and North, LBC's been told.

Money will be reprioritised from the South East to Red Wall seats Labour won off the Tories at the last election.

It will be seen as a bid to try and see off the threat of Reform, who came second in nearly 100 seats in the 2024 election.

The spending review will see £100bilion of cash for road, rail and green projects given the green light, with changes to what's called the Green Book.

The Chancellor suggested she would look to tweak the rules earlier this year to divert the cash into struggling areas, rather than where they will see the biggest returns.

Similar moves were planned by Boris Johnson's government, but were never followed through.

Sir Keir Starmer's made living standards and making people feel better off a key part of his government's 'Plan for Change'.

Read more: Attorney general compares Tories and Reform to Nazis following calls to quit ECHR

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It comes after LBC revealed this week the government's plans to get local pension funds to invest in riskier, local projects.

The Chancellor's likely to have more cash to announce for infrastructure projects like buildings, roads and railways after tweaking her fiscal rules last year, to allow more borrowing for investment.

But the Treasury's insisting that despite the Chancellor's slim headroom - thought to be around £10billion - they won't be ripping up the rules any further.

Yesterday the Prime Minister used a visit in the North West to directly attack Nigel Farage's "fantasy economics" and accuse him of not being serious about government.

He said the Reform boss wasn't being honest about his tax cuts and spending increases - and that a Reform government would be “Liz Truss all over again”.

The Reform boss said earlier this week he wanted to scrap the two child benefit cap, reverse cuts to winter fuel payments, and raise the tax-free allowance to £20,000.

And he argued that he's the true champion of the working class, and that Sir Keir has "no connection" with theworking class communities he does.

Watch Again: Nick Ferrari speaks to Chancellor Rachel Reeves | 27/03/25